Clemson looks to future in ‘young man’s game’ of recruiting

03:10 PM, October 17, 2013 |

By Michael Burns

Recruiting seems to be a young man’s game – on both sides of the courtship. The younger prospects are when coaches become involved, the better the coaches’ chances of landing them. And the younger the coaches, themselves, the better they are able to make important personal connections, oftentimes.

Clemson’s top recruiter according to ESPN’s power rankings is the recruiting coordinator himself, Jeff Scott, a 32-year-old who is the youngest fulltime coach on the Tigers’ staff.

And this weekend, as a load of top prospects descend on Death Valley for Clemson’s primetime showdown with Florida State, younger guys will be in the spotlight – though high school senior Raekwon McMillan, a five-star prospect ranked the No. 14 player in the nation overall, will be on campus for an unofficial visit. Securing most of their current class early in the annual process, as they’ve one in recent years, allows the Tigers to do that.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson defensive end Albert Huggins, the No. 1 player in the state of South Carolina for the Class of 2015, is among players who’ve confirmed to GreenvilleOnline.com that he will be in attendance Saturday.

And Class of 2016 quarterback Josh White, a 6-foot-5, 220-pounder from Walton High in Marietta, Ga., will return to Clemson for the second week in a row. The high school sophomore is playing junior varsity football, mostly, as a senior signal caller is playing ahead of him on the varsity.

But his size and potential have caught the eyes of recruiters, already. He participated in camps at Alabama and Auburn over the summer, and Tennessee and Miami are also among schools showing interest. He’s scheduled to visit Alabama as the Crimson Tide play the Tennessee Volunteers Oct. 26.

But the school he’ll see again this Saturday has become his favorite. He said Tigers coaches have already talked to him about participating in the Dabo Swinney Football Camp next summer.